When The Clock Strikes
by AimlessOutburst
Summary: A descriptive scene of how I imagined Minako as she got off the train and experienced the Dark Hour for the first time.


**A/N:** This scene was originally from my other Fan Fic, "The Scarlet's Diary", but I decided to take it out... But since I'm proud of how I wrote this, I didn't wanna delete it...so here it is again, by itself!

**Monday, April 6, 2009**

Minako was sitting half awake with her eyes closed in the bare, New City Passenger train, clutching her bag right next to her. She was listening to her MP3 player, tapping her foot to the beat. When she had her music on, that meant the world she lived in was out. That's why she always had it wherever she went; it took her out of her world with just a single click.

As her mind was slowly fading away to black, her music too, was sounding distant, like soft echoes in her head. Before her mind had a chance to fully shut down, she felt her heart suddenly jump and noticed her music went to a stop. At that moment she saw a bright blue butterfly appear before the darkness, flying through her mind, quickly disappearing with the sound of shattering glass.

The noise made her bright red eyes flash open, jolting her back to reality. Her heart was still racing as she heard the speaker announce "Iwatodai" over her music. When the train slowed to a stop, she clutched her bag right next to her and stood up, feeling unsteady from sitting down too long. It was already late with hardly anyone else on the train, so she walked at a faster pace, nearly crashing into a pole, and let out a smile and a tired "thank you" to the doorman before she hopped off. The station was empty, but one thing that caught her eye was the huge digital clock in front of her.

"Aw man, I am so late...it's almost midnight,"_ s_he mumbled to herself in dismay, and pouted her lips. She then hurriedly took out her map and scanned through it, thinking of how to get to the dorm._ Hm, let's see...I'm over here, so I'll have to-_

On the spur of the moment, Minako's music stopped, which caused her to glance at her MP3 player, which was already dead. "Oh no, please don't die on me right at mid...n-night..."

As she spoke, all the station lights turned off all at once, right before her eyes. Her mouth slightly dropped, and she slowly removed her headphones with one hand, slipping them in her bag. She swallowed hard, staring at the black sky being engulfed by a sickly green mist. The only sounds she heard were her heavy breathing and the quiet blowing of the wind.

"W-what the...? I-is it Earth Hour or something?" She started shivering not because she was cold, but because she was downright scared. Going out at midnight was her weakness, especially since she was all alone.

Minako continued fast-walking, glancing at her map from time to time, wishing that she could just be one step away from the dorm. But once she took a turn, she was one step away from coffin-like objects, lined up across the now twisted and grotesque city, surrounded by red pools of liquid. Blood. She froze with terror. Blood was her other weakness.

Her hands started shaking and she felt the sudden sweat in her fingers. "What...is up with this place?" She looked around in panic, desperately searching for someone...someone that would tell her that she just happened to walk by the set of a horror movie. She squeezed her head and started shaking it back and forth, squeezing her eyes shut._ I can't believe this...where am I...is this really real?_

She then, started to run. She ran as fast as she could to get to the dorm, fighting the urge not to notice what surrounded her, even if she was as scared as hell. As she ran, she felt the gigantic moon following her; mocking her. Every second felt like an hour, and when she finally saw the dorm's entrance up ahead, it was like seeing Heaven's light.

Minako quickly got the dorm key out of her pocket, with her shaking, sweaty hands and used what seemed to be the last of her strength to open the heavy door. She dashed in, slamming the door on accident with her back as she rested her palms against the door, still gasping for air. Her eyes gazed around the dorm. S_till green,_ she thought, sighing. "Well...at least I'm finally safe here in-"

"Why hello there. I've been waiting a long time for you."

Minako shrieked, nearly getting another heart attack as some small boy in striped pajamas seemed to come out of the shadows, greeting her with an intimidating voice.

_Why is it that whenever I speak, someone or something has to cut me off?_ ...W_hen I yearned to see someone...I didn't mean a creepy little ghost boy with a threatening smile on his face, waiting for me._

She was speechless, and the thought of turning the door knob and going back outside actually seemed okay with her right now. But she just couldn't move. The little boy's piercing blue eyes seemed to hold her still.

"If you want to proceed, please sign here. It's a contract," The little boy held out a fancy-looking paper out to Minako._ Proceed? I-is he gonna kill me or something, if I don't?_

"There's no need to be scared." He suddenly said, grinning, as if reading her mind.

Minako flinched, feeling even more chills go up her spine. _I don't know what I'm doing...but as long as he disappears and leaves me alone...I'm up for it._ Without any hestitation this time, she reached out to grab the contract out of his hand, and walked over to the front desk, carefully keeping enough distance away from the little ghost boy to sign her name.

As soon as Minako handed it back to him, the little ghost boy replied,  
"...Very well. Time is something no one can escape. It delivers us all to the same end. Wishing won't make it go away. And so it begins..."

Minako saw it with her bloodshot eyes. Saw him slowly getting eaten away by the shadows, vanishing back into the darkness as he told that deep quote about time._ He...really did disappear, s_he thought, still in awe and fear. She was still surrounded by the eerie, green world she unknowingly entered, right when she got off the train.

_What just happened...what is happening to me? This doesn't feel real at all...am I hallucinating? I feel like I'm in some crazy suspense movie,_ she thought, as she cupped her mouth and nose with her hand, breathing heavily.

Then after a few seconds of trying to calm herself down, she heard footsteps coming closer, along with a girl's terrified voice. "Wh-Who's there?" Minako drew back, still stunned from everything, and now this. She looked around, and eyed a light-haired girl coming out of a corner. "Uh-uh...I'm..." Minako stuttered, since her head was filled with a million thoughts circling around her head all at once.

Before she could continue on, the girl shot out a horrified look on her face right when she met Minako's eyes. "How can you be...But it's! Don't tell me..." Minako slowly backed up until she reached the wall behind her, feeling trapped from the sudden aggressive stare of the light-haired girl._ Oh god, oh god, what am I supposed to do-wait...what is she..._Minako's thought cut off right when she saw the aggressive-looking girl pull out something off her thigh strap.

_It's a gun! A freakin' gun!_ Minako's eyes widened with fear and panic as she watched the girl raise it up._ W-w-wait! I didn't even-! W-wait, what is she doing..._Minako stared wide-eyed as she realized that the girl was about to point it at her own head, about to pull the trigger, squeezing her eyes shut. "Wait!" An older lady's deep-toned voice yelled. The light-haired girl opened her eyes and after a few seconds, the electricity went back on.

_The lights..._Minako felt saved by the light that lit up the now, normal-looking place that she hadn't seen ever since she arrived, but at the same time, felt like a criminal who just got caught from not trying to stop a girl from committing suicide, right in front of her.

Minako stared in awe at the same rosy-red haired lady that stopped the girl from shooting herself._ How could she stay so calm...after witnessing a girl about to commit suicide?_ Minako tried straightening up as well, despite how insanely tired she was, but soon failed because of her heay gasping and heart nearly thumping out of her chest.

"She's a transfer student," the rosy-red haired lady whispered quietly to the light-haired girl, and approached Minako, while Minako just stood there, unsure how to react. Unsure what to say.

"I didn't think you'd arrive so late. I'm Mitsuru Kirijo, one of the students living here."_ Whoa, student? She looks pretty old...for one._ "Yeah, the train made me late," Minako seemed to find her voice again, yawning right after.

"You must be tired. You'll find your room on the 3rd floor. Your things should be there. I suggest you tuck in for the night." Minako nodded and rubbed her teary eyes.

"Oh...I'll show you the way. Follow me," the light-haired girl said._ I'm about to follow the girl with a gun...is this...okay?_ Minako walked behind the girl as they went up the third floor in silence. Minako kept her distance, fearing that the girl would ring out her gun out at any second, and point it at_ her_ this time.

When they reached the end of the hall safely, the light-haired girl broke the silence. "Well, here it is. Pretty easy to remember, huh? Oh, and uh, I'm Yukari by the way." Yukari said, with a small, but sincere smile. Minako smiled back, surprised at how Yukari's mood changed so fast.

"Haha yeah, well, thanks for showing me the way," Minako replied with a tired, but friendly smile, and turned to face her door to start unlocking it. "No problem," Yukari said. She was about to head to her room as well, but hesitated and added, "Hey, uh, do you have any questions?" Minako froze, next to her opened dooras she was about to close it. She obviously did.

Minako turned to face Yukari. "Actually, yeah, I do..."_ Where should I even start? Why you were about to shoot yourself? The creepy boy with the contract? The coffins with...blood...everywhere..._Minako cringed at her thoughts and decided to not start out with anything too drastic, especially when they were about to sleep.

"Well, I signed this contract and I was just wonderi-" Yukari interrupted, "A contract? About what?"

Minako frowned, thinking hard at the ground._ What did I JUST sign? Maybe I was just hallucinating...or maybe-_ "Oh, well I better get going...Um, I'm sure you still have other questions, but let's save them for later, okay? Good night." Yukari headed to her own room, and so did Minako. As soon as Minako turned the lights on, she glided on her bed without even changing into her pajamas, and fell asleep.


End file.
